Typology of Online Learning Communities

This study presents a typology for Online Learning Communities (OLC). People have always been members of different learning groups. OLC is about people who share a common interest and learn in a collaborative mode using information and communication technology (ICT). People communicate globally and exchange information with expectations to find others interested in the same subject. The aim of the article is to suggest categories for existing forms of OLC. Six different categories of OLC are presented, in which participants respectively environment are dividing factors. The typology defines each type of OLC depending on if the environment is online or blended. A mixture between online and physical meetings creates the blended environment. The other factor is based on if the participants practice is related to an educational or professional environment, and perhaps sited in an environment connected to a shared